These estimates
are based on ERIU tabulations
of 2002 Medical Expenditure
Panel Survey (MEPS) data collected
by the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ).
The MEPS employs an overlapping
panel design and collects data
on two calendar years for each
respondent. The tabulations
reported here are based on
responses to interview Rounds
3, 4, and 5 of Panel 5 and
Rounds 1, 2, and 3 of Panel
6, which cover calendar year
2002 for both panels. Coverage
status is obtained at the initial
interview. At each subsequent
interview, respondents are
asked about whether their coverage
has changed since the last
interview and, if so, how and
when. Respondents report whether
they were covered by any public
or private source of health
insurance (Medicare, Medicaid,
SCHIP, TRICARE/CHAMPUS, other
public coverage, employment-based
private, other private health
insurance). Respondents are
considered uninsured if they
respond “no” to
all of the coverage options;
they are not asked directly
if they are uninsured. A person
may gain or lose coverage during
a year and these data permit
estimates of the number lacking
coverage at a particular point
in time, at some time during
the year, and throughout the
entire year. We label those
who are without health insurance
for the entire year as “all-year
uninsured,” and those
without health insurance for
at least one month and up to
twelve months as “ever
uninsured.” The “point-in-time
uninsured” estimates
include those without coverage
in the first round of the calendar
year (Round 3 for those who
entered the survey in 2001,
and Round 1 for those who entered
the survey in 2002).